This week we focused on reinforcing our understanding of the basic controls of our 35mm DSLR cameras. To do this we made environmental and isolation portraits of each other.

We were set three tasks to complete as groups of around 4 people. 

Task one was to make an environmental portrait; a portrait in which the individual depicted is photographed in a location where they live, work, rest or play. The environment can be used to say something about who the subject is, however this was not essential for this exercise. To achieve this image we had to select an aperture of F8 or greater. We also had to select an ISO and shutter speed that was appropriate to this situation. This image was to demonstrate our understanding of ‘extended depth of field’.

Yesterday was our first guest lecture of the year, lead by our very own lecturer Katy White, presenting her work in progress from her MA; a body of work that explores the anthropocentric gaze and the animal as 'other'.




Katy had a background of working with animals, working at Battersea dogs home, and chose to focus her 3rd phase of her MA on greyhounds; hated the idea of these dogs retiring so early, as young as 3, and them just being discarded and forgotten about once they had 'served their purpose'.

Her extensive research saw her looking into the colonial achieves of the anthropological images of indigenous people, which were used to take comparative measurements, for example stood next to a metre ruler. These images objectified the people, which is the effect Katy wanted when photographing the grey hounds; the lamprey grid in the background of her images which she made herself after some experimentation. 
The colonial achieve used wet plate photography as a method to document; it was a rising technology in those times. Very identifiable, Katy was unsure weather to adopt this method as she didn't want it to hide the true concept of her work. However, she followed her gut and used the wet plate process on tin, as a means to document her images. 

Katy's strong code of ethics meant that the animals wellbeing, to her, was far more important than achieving 'the shot'. She shot in natural light, without flash so they dogs wouldn't be spooked, and if the dog she was shooting had never worn a muzzle, Katy wouldn't force it to wear one, however if the dog was used to a muzzle, they would wear one. 
To present her work, Katy chose to use typologies; grids of multiple photographs together. Rather than increase the size of her tiny tin types she kept the original size and chose not to put them behind glass, but have them exposed, unframed. By doing this, when displayed in an exhibition, the viewer would have to come closer to examine each image individually, as well as standing far to look at the work as a piece together. In a grid of around 25 images two of the dogs weren't as uniformed as the others; they  were looking at the camera. This broke up the uniformity of the typology making it less monotonous and more striking and thought provoking, or reflective as Katy's aim was.

What shocked me about Katy's work is the sheer amount of research which she conducted, and how every aspect  of her work had a reason and thought behind it. At the beginning of the lecture she had the image of the greyhound with a muzzle on, and asked if we had any thoughts about it looking at it as an outsider with no background info. Then at the end she again presented the same photograph and asked how we felt about it after knowing a little more. I personally didn't feel any different about the image alone, I was impressed at first glance, but I was able to understand the meaning behind it and maybe appreciate it a little better. 

Our first group crit was yesterday and having never experienced anything like this I had no idea what to expect; but I was pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was very relaxed and Matt put everyone at ease straight away.

We discussed each of our four images from the previous days brief and what we thought went well, our intentions behind the images and what we would do differently if we had the chance to reshoot.

I expressed that I would like to reshoot my extensive depth of field image as I felt it didn't reflect me and the rest of my work and ability, however Matt explained that reshooting in this instance was only necessary if are work produced didn't fit the brief and that it would mean us spending our time needlessly when we could be moving onwards and upwards. It was hard for me to still not reshoot as I am quite a perfectionist and am never happy unless I am completely happy with my outcomes, however, Matt was right- there really is nothing worse than being behind when it could have been avoided.

After experiencing my first group crit I can really see how these weekly sessions will benefit me in the future, it was really nice to discuss with everyone openly and see individual styles coming through so early in the year.

Our first brief was designed to introduce and/or reinforce our existing knowledge of our 35mm SLR camera in manual format and to get used to the idea of following a brief to the guidelines given.
We shot for one day in two separate locations in Norwich; The cathedral and a Plantation Garden.

The brief was as follows:
Produce 4 images which demonstrate manual control of the camera and should include:

• An image that shows selective focus without the object nearest the camera being in focus.
• An image which shows extensive depth of field.
• An image that freezes movement.
• An image that blurs movement.                                                                                                               

My four final images were;

Back in the beginning of September I hopped on a plane at Gatwick and made my way to Helsinki, Finland. Okay, it wasn't as casual as i'm making out but the purpose of my 3 day trip was to become a little more cultured and to take some photos of all the nature I'd told myself would be there.

After being introduced today to the concept of a reflective journal, a form of blog in which I shall record any inspiration, ideas and feedback from my tutors and workshops, I will now begin to present them here.

I can now begin to document any aspects of the course which I may need to come back to reflect upon at a later date, or any inspiration which may impact any future work.

I am going to start with my images from my summer project; we we asked to produce three images which reflected our personal style and demonstrated a technical skill of our choosing.

I chose to present two fashion based portraits of my friend Megan which I shot over the summer and a shot of a bee on a flower demonstrating a shallow depth of field.





This mini brief served as a way of getting back into the swing of manipulating camera settings in manual mode and a good ice breaker at the beginning of the course surrounded by lots of new faces.